It Happened on Yuletide
by DarkSideofParis
Summary: With several TARDIS parts damaged beyond repair, the Doctor, Alex, and the Ponds head to the planet Yuletide, a planet that celebrates Christmas extravagantly. But the inhabitants are very intrigued by the Doctor and Alex and their unique relationship and the two soon find themselves in a situation they never anticipated... 11/OC. One-shot based in my Alex Locke Series universe.


A/N: Hey guys! Long time, no see! I know this isn't _The Pros and Cons of Silence_ (which I promise is on it's way), but I wanted to put this up as a little gift for all the readers impatiently waiting for more adventures with Alex.

This is a (very) belated Christmas one-shot that takes place in my Alex Locke series. It would've been up much earlier, but I got sick and my writing was zapped as a result. I'd recommend reading my story, _Living the Life of Ally_ , first so as to understand the relationship between my OC, Alex Locke, and the Doctor.

Special thanks go out to **whitedwarf** for encouraging me to write a Christmas one-shot. Thanks a bunch and enjoy!

* * *

 _I can't believe this is happening._

The thought ran through Alex's mind. Actually, it was the only one currently running through her brain.

Alex fingered the bouquet nervously. It was a rather lovely bouquet, if screaming seasonal. It consisted of poinsettias, dark red roses, little bundles of holly berries, and pinecones wrapped together by a thick red ribbon. She held it up to her nose. It smelled lovely too. It didn't calm her nerves though.

For the hundredth time, Alex turned her head to the large mirror hanging on the wall beside her. Why it was there she had no idea. It seemed pretty out of place, hanging in the entrance hall of a church.

She looked beautiful. She couldn't deny that. Her handmaidens (or that's what they referred to themselves as) had gone all out, gushing and chattering away as they did so. Alex hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, a first for her.

Alex allowed her now light-green eyes to roam over her figure in the mirror before forcibly turning her head back towards the church doors. Her fingers clutched the bouquet tightly, her nails digging into the pretty red ribbon. Her heart was pounding, caused by a strange mixture of nervousness and excitement. Sweat was beginning to bead on her forehead. Alex bit her lip.

"Oh, girlie, don't do that!" one of her handmaids lightly scolded. Alex turned to see a middle-aged blue-skinned woman giving her a warning look. Obediently, Alex released her lip.

"There, that's better," the handmaid praised. She held up a lip gloss wand and carefully applied the rosy red liquid to Alex's lips. "Good, that's fixed. Don't go biting that lip again, dear."

"Sorry," Alex mumbled, her head already turned back to the doors.

The handmaid gave her an empathetic expression. "Oh, I know you're nervous dearie, but don't worry. That's perfectly natural. Trust me, by the time this is over, you'll be questioning why the hell you were nervous in the first place. That's what happened with me."

 _Very reassuring. NOT!_ Alex thought.

At that moment, a familiar tune started up behind the doors. It was the typical wedding march Alex had heard in many movies and TV shows back home. She never thought she'd be hearing it on an alien planet though, especially not in this context.

"Ooh! This is it!" the handmaid squealed, sounding more like a fifteen-year-old at a One Direction concert than the forty-something she actually was. She stepped behind Alex and nudged her closer to the doors. "Get ready girlie, cause your life is about to change!"

Alex resisted the urge to snort. _Tell me about it._ The church doors opened, revealing the massive church hall that would put Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral to shame. Ever so carefully, she stepped into the hall, then slowly made her way down the aisle.

Her eyes were mostly concentrated on the floor, making sure she didn't trip on her floor-length dress, but as she got closer to the end of the aisle, an internal force made Alex look up. Her breath hitched upon seeing the figure waiting at the head of the church, looking oh-so-elegant and perfect.

 _I can't believe this is happening,_ she thought. _I'm marrying the Doctor._

* * *

 _Several hours earlier…_

Alex Locke knew something big had happened at the sound of the loud BANG!

Her body jolted and sent itself tumbling off the nice, cozy bed and onto the floor. Alex landed with an "oomph" and a few choice cuss words that her somewhat sleep-addled brain managed to come up with. She groaned and grimaced. What the hell was going on?

Her question became more important at the sound of loud cursing coming from just outside her door. Alex's grimace turned into a wince. That sounded a lot like the Doctor and she never heard him curse like that. It was a mixture of alien and English and the English words she caught made her think twice about going out and seeing what was wrong.

 _I still have to see,_ she thought. Someone had to calm the Doctor down and Alex knew she could do that in a snap.

Still listening to the Doctor's increased ranting, Alex pulled herself up into a sitting position and tugged the snow white sheets away from her legs. Once that was done, she stood up and crossed the room over to her door.

Almost cautiously, she peeked out into the TARDIS corridor. The lights had switched over from night-mode, emitting a bright glow that made Alex's eyes hurt. A split second later, the lights dimmed, nowhere near as bright as before, but enough to where Alex could still see her surroundings.

She smiled and sent a grateful look up at the ceiling. "Thanks, gorgeous," she murmured, eliciting a delighted hum from the time-machine. Alex reached out and petted her door-frame. "Now, care to tell me what the Doctor's all upset about?"

The TARDIS let out another hum. This one sounded a bit upset and guilty, at least to Alex's ears. Most people wouldn't trust humming as a way to guess a sentient time-machine's feelings, but Alex wasn't most people. Of course, she already knew that.

Alex frowned and gave the door-frame a few more strokes before heading down the corridor to the console room. It was a very short distance, not even ten yards, so Alex reached it pretty quickly. She leaned over the staircase railing, peering down into the room below. It didn't take her long to spot the cursing alien she was looking for. "Hey, Doc!" she shouted down. "What the hell is going on?!"

The Doctor's head popped up and peered at her through the glass floor of the central platform. "Oh, Ally!" he cried. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"That bang certainly did," Alex said dryly. "Along with all that cussing. I never knew you could be such a potty-mouth, Doc."

The Doctor's cheeks turned the same color as the bow-tie he was wearing. "Yes, sorry," he said, ashamed. "A part of the TARDIS blew up. A relatively important part."

Alex's eyes widened. Something big _and_ serious then. "What part exactly?" she questioned as she rushed down the staircases to join him.

"Nothing life-threatening," he assured her once she was by his side. He was sitting in his little swing beneath the platform, examining an object in his lap. Alex eyed it curiously. It was a large gray object shaped like a medium-sized rectangular box. Nearly all of it was singed and it was smoking slightly. Alex couldn't help but cough a little at the smell.

Seeing her discomfort, the Doctor hastily pulled the object back. "It's the climatic-regulator," he explained. "It helps control the TARDIS climate, such as the temperature, how hot and cold the water is, stuff like that."

"And it exploded," Alex noted. "How long until it starts getting extremely hot or cold in here?"

"A few hours, but that's enough time for me to get some new parts."

Alex's eyebrows rose. " _Parts_?" she repeated. "As in plural?"

The Doctor cringed. "Yes. The climatic-regulator is actually the fifth thing to have been damaged beyond repair in just the past eight hours."

"The fifth thing? Jesus, Doctor, you'd better get on that."

"I will," the Doctor promised. He set the ruined climatic-regulator down on the floor and stood up. Grabbing his tweed jacket from where it was hanging on the lower staircase railing, he said, "Go and get ready. Also, dress warm. It might be a bit cold where we're going."

Alex glanced down at her off-white long sleeved shirt, gray velvet sweatpants, and white socks before nodding and heading up the stairs. Halfway up, she paused. "What about Amy and Rory?" she asked. "Are they coming too, or is this just a special trip for you and me?"

For a moment, the Doctor was extremely tempted to screw the Ponds and just take Alex along with him. It had been a while since he'd spent time alone with just her. It would be fun. She'd certainly enjoy the place they were going to and he would love to show her the sights and sounds without worrying about other companions getting in the way. Ultimately though, his conscience kicked in. "Yes, of course we'll bring along the Ponds," he said, hoping his voice didn't come out as sounding reluctant and grudging. He gazed up at the higher staircases. "Actually, I'm surprised that the climatic-regulator's explosion didn't wake them."

"I'm pretty sure they're dead asleep from doing certain bedroom activities," Alex remarked with a slight sneer.

The Doctor matched her sneer right back. They both knew that the Ponds were pretty…occupied with each-other at the moment. It had only been a week since the couple's wedding, and only two days after an incident where the group was seemingly stuck forever in a space loop, caused by Rory dropping a thermal coupling when he became distracted looking up Amy's skirt through the glass platform. It was hormone-city with the Ponds right now, something the Doctor and Alex looked forward to eventually ending, or at the very least, subsiding.

"Yes, well…" The Doctor, forever uncomfortable with the mention of intimate human interactions, trailed off and hurried up the stairs to the console. "I'll wake them. You go and get ready. Get more gorgeous than you already are."

Alex blinked in shock and secret glee. He thought she was already gorgeous with her messy hair, simple pajamas, and (she had to admit it) morning breath? "Already gorgeous, huh?" she grinned, her eyes changing from dark green to an impish copper.

Once again, the Doctor's face reddened. "Um, w-well, y-yes, maybe? Oh, shut up!"

Alex giggled. It was nice to know that the Doctor thought she was good-looking no matter what her appearance was. "Don't hurt yourself, Doc," she teased. She headed up the stairs back towards her room, only to pause once she reached the landing. "And for the record, Doctor?" she called down. "I think you're handsome no matter your appearance." With that, she skipped off down the corridor.

The Doctor leaned against the console in stunned silence for several moments until the TARDIS sent an electric shock up through his fingers. "Ow!" he shouted, jumping away from the console. He stuck one of his burnt fingers in his mouth. "Quit that!" Trying to get Alex's comment out of his head (and failing miserably), the Doctor headed up the stairs, finger still in his mouth. Time to wake up the Ponds.

Hopefully, Amy wouldn't slap him like she had last time.

* * *

Half an hour later, Amy, Rory, and Alex were gathered in the console room. Amy and Rory looked slightly put out at being called from their bed so early, but the chance to explore a new world was too exciting to pass up.

All of the companions were bundled in warm clothes. Amy was dressed in a red sweater the same shade as her hair, black jeans, and matching boots and leather jacket. Rory had placed one of his usual plaid shirts over a black turtleneck, pairing them with jeans, boots, and a heavy brown jacket. Alex, her hair pulled back into a half ponytail, wore a tight gray cotton sweater, dark skinny jeans, shiny black mid-calf length boots, a purple coat that hit the backs of her knees, silver hoop earrings, and a silver necklace with a tree charm on it.

The companions all watched curiously as the Doctor did his maniac dance around the console, flinging levers and pressing buttons everywhere he went. The TARDIS rumbled around them, though not as wildly and forcefully as it usually did. "Where exactly are we going?" Rory asked over the sound of the TARDIS's engines. "You didn't say!"

"The planet Yuletide!" the Doctor cheered as he darted past the Ponds, flinging down a lever on that side of the console before sprinting back around to the other side.

Alex's brow furrowed. "Yuletide?" she repeated. "Isn't that the archaic term for Christmas?"

The Doctor beamed proudly at her. "Exactly, Ally! That's where Yuletide derives its name from. Well, that and the man who discovered and founded it; Edgar Cornelius Yuletide. Of course, he wouldn't have found the planet in the first place if I hadn't corrected the coordinates on his holo-map."

"A planet named after Christmas?" Amy grinned excitedly. "Bet they throw one hell of a celebration."

Alex was greatly surprised when the Doctor, instead of smiling and prattling on about the customs of a Yuletide Christmas, grimaced. "Yes, you're right, Pond," he admitted. "Yuletide is rather known for its Christmas festivities. They dedicate a whole month to it. Picture a lavish, completely outrageous carnival combined with New Year's Eve in Times Square and that's Yuletide in December for you."

"Are we going to that?" Alex asked, getting a little excited. Despite the fact that it was nowhere near Christmas for her or the Ponds, attending an extravagant festival celebrating the holiday sounded extremely fun. _Drink hot chocolate, get all my Christmas shopping done early, cuddle with the Doctor…_

Her romantic fantasies were interrupted, however, by the Doctor's defiant head-shaking. "No, no, no, definitely not going to that," he said frantically as he shoved down a lever. "Sorry, Ally, but we're going nowhere near that holiday."

"Why?" Alex asked, befuddled. Behind her, Amy and Rory gave the Doctor similar expressions.

The Doctor sighed. "Let's just say that things go wrong for me at Christmas, no matter what planet or time-period I happen to be in."

Before Alex could quiz him on just what _that_ meant (although based on the last few Christmases in London, she had a pretty good idea what he might be referencing) the TARDIS landed with a solid thump. The Doctor grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her down to the doors while Amy and Rory rushed after them.

"Ally and Ponds, I give you Yuletide!" the Doctor cheered, flinging open the doors.

Amy, Alex, and Rory all gaped at the sight. The TARDIS had landed in the middle of what appeared to be a large outdoor bazaar. Booths were cluttered in tight next to each-other, selling a wide variety of things, such as trinkets, scarves, mittens, bottles of wine, Christmas tree ornaments, Santa Claus figurines ranging from the regular fat man with a white beard known to Alex, to what looked alien versions of him with purple and orange dotted skin and five eyes, and more. Christmas lights were wrapped around the tops and sides of practically every booth, from multi-colored, plain white lights, lights that blinked on and off at different intervals, etc. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground and more was falling overhead, but that didn't seem to be deterring anyone; the market was packed with people, mostly humanoid individuals that didn't look all that different from Alex and the Ponds, but Alex spotted quite a few alien creatures. She recognized one person with a Doberman head as a Doxby, and another being with two lizard like heads (who were arguing with each-other over the price of a snowglobe) as a Twilizotan.

The Doctor, however, was the only one not enthralled with the scenery. Instead, he was glaring darkly back towards the TARDIS console. "I specifically said _not_ December!" he shouted at it. He peered down at his watch and groaned. "Especially not _December 24_ _th_!"

"Oh, lighten up, Doctor," Amy dismissed. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Those are the exact words you should never say, Pond," the Doctor retorted.

Fortunately, unlike what might happen in horror movies, no sudden screams rang out, nor did balls of fire start dropping from the sky. The market continued to operate as normal, the snow continued to fall, and the Christmas lights continued to twinkle merrily. A bright smile crossed Alex's lips. This whole place was like a winter wonderland, something pulled out of a child's storybook, and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

"Come on, Doc," she pleaded. She laced her fingers in with his and smiled up at him. "This may not be so bad."

"It looks rather cool, actually," Rory jumped in.

" _Please_ , Doctor?" Alex begged. She batted her topaz-colored eyes at him. She knew he couldn't refuse her. Not for long, anyways.

Despite his brain screaming at him to go back into the TARDIS and convince the machine to land on another date, the Doctor found himself caving. It was almost always like this with Alex. Whenever she desperately wanted something, he found himself bending backwards in order to give it to her (except a cat, but that was different). He let out a long sigh, not missing the little squeak Alex let out, knowing she was about to get her way. "Very well, Ally. If you really want to-," The rest of his sentence was cut off when Alex flung her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed into his jacket.

The Doctor chuckled, all of his original reluctance now abandoned, and hugged her back. "You're very welcome," he smirked when they pulled apart.

"Thank you, Doctor," Amy chimed in, squeezing his shoulder. She peered around some more at the festivities, trying to take in everything at once. Her nose twitched a little. The scents of eggnog, sugar, snow, and pine trees filled the air. It was a Christmassy type smell that couldn't be manufactured, only directly experienced. Amy was already in love with it.

"Where are the TARDIS parts you need?" Rory wondered. He eyed the bazaar. There were several booths around them, almost two dozen, and there were many, many more in the distance.

"Here, somewhere," the Doctor answered. He was taking in the plethora of booths as well. He winced. "It may take a while."

"Don't worry, Doc," Alex hastened to assure him. "It won't take long with the three of us helping, right?" She turned to Amy and Rory, only to see that they looked slightly guilty. Alex narrowed her eyes at them. " _Right_?"

"Well, actually…" Rory began.

"We were kinda hoping," Amy picked up, "to maybe spend some time exploring? By ourselves?"

Alex opened her mouth to protest, but the Doctor's voice came out first. "Go ahead," he granted. "But be careful. Don't go getting into trouble."

Amy frowned at him. "Since when do we go getting into trouble?"

Alex snorted. "Do you really want him to answer that, Ames?"

Amy rolled her eyes and grabbed Rory's hand, not bothering to come up with a retort. "See you in a while!" she called over her shoulder as she led Rory away. Her husband struggled to keep up with her and managed to wave at them before Amy led him out of sight.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me," Alex observed. _Not that that's a bad thing,_ she thought with a smirk. She quite liked spending alone time with the Doctor and, since Amy and Rory's wedding, they hadn't had any chances to be alone. A thrum of adrenaline ran through her veins, filling her with even more energy than she had already.

The Doctor felt his own rush of adrenaline go through him. His hearts started pounding a bit more erratically as well. "Guess so," he smirked as he grasped Alex's hand. "Do you mind?"

Alex beamed at him, her eyes twinkling as they switched from honey-colored to light green. "Of course not." She tightened her grip and started to lead him off through the bazaar, running a little in her excitement. "Now, come on!"

* * *

The bazaar/market, Alex soon learned, was actually called a Frost Fair, based on the Frost Fairs that used to be held on the River Thames on Earth. Fortunately, unlike those Earth festivities, this fair wasn't held on the tideway of a river, but on solid ground, much to Alex's relief. She didn't think she'd be too reluctant to go out on frozen ice as long as the Doctor was with her, but it was nice all the same not to worry about it.

This Frost Fair, aside from having a maze of booths and stalls, was also packed with a wide variety of entertainers and artists. Some clowns dressed in elf-like outfits danced and juggled snowballs wildly next to a chestnut stand. Several carvers were in the process of creating elaborate ice-sculptures, dozens of which were already interspersed throughout the fair. They ranged from snowflakes, Christmas trees, Santa Claus sitting in his sleigh, reindeer, castles, and more. Alex's head spun trying to spot them all. She also saw a wide variety of animals. They passed what looked like a reindeer petting zoo, kids of different alien species all clamoring to pet one while their parents looked on warily, and even an elephant that was giving rides to people. It had been outfitted with a sky-blue saddle with snowflakes on it and seemed to be pretty happy wandering around the market as its occupants laughed and cheered at being so high up.

Alex shook her head. It was official. She loved this place. "This is amazing," she murmured. "Completely amazing."

The Doctor grinned at her. "You think so?"

Alex nodded her head adamantly. "Yes! It's kinda what I always wished winters in Kentucky were like." Wintertime in Kentucky wasn't usually a good season for Alex. When the snow started falling heavily, it meant she was stuck with Carla for days on end, a kind of hell that she didn't wish on anyone. She would spend days holed up in her room, reading or studying or, once she got a proper cell-phone, texting Lacey and the others for hours on end. She recalled hitch-hiking to Lacey's house once after almost three feet of snow fell. It had taken her nearly three hours and she got a bad cold for her efforts. Marigold had welcomed her with open arms, but made her swear on her parents' graves that she wouldn't do something like that again.

Instead of sharing all that with the Doctor though, Alex refocused her mind on the whole reason they were here. "So, where's our first stop?"

The Doctor stopped to examine the booths in front of them. There was a stand selling hot chocolate, one selling what mainly looked like homemade crafts, a trinket stall packed with snowglobes… Then he spotted something promising. The fourth stall before them was made entirely of metal, several parts of it having rusted from the falling snow. Its shelves were packed with different mechanical parts and gears, so many in fact, that it looked like the shelves were just a few seconds away from snapping off.

The Doctor quickly led Alex over to it. The vendor looked up from his magazine as they approached. It was a male who, by Alex's estimate, was somewhere in his mid-twenties. He was humanoid, but his skin was a deep cerulean blue. He was dressed in mechanic's overalls, a long sleeved black sweater, and a baseball cap worn backwards. Altogether, he didn't look too different from how Ross and Mike dressed when they went to work at Ross's step-dad's auto garage.

"Can I help you?" the vendor asked, revealing a deep, masculine voice.

"We're looking for a climatic-regulator," Alex explained.

"Would you happen to have one?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

"A climatic-regulator?" The vendor rubbed his chin in thought. "I think so. Just got back from a big salvage trip to the wastelands of Zeitus 9." He turned and crouched down to examine some boxes shoved at the back of the stall. "Hold on, might be one in here somewhere…"

The Doctor and Alex watched the vendor dig through the boxes for several minutes, listening to the sounds of rattling, clanking, and the vendor's muttered cursing. Finally, the vendor stood back up. He was beaming triumphantly and holding a familiar-looking object in his hands. "Here you are then!" he cheered, setting the climatic-regulator down on the counter. "A little banged up, but I guarantee it'll work like new!"

"How much is it?" Alex questioned, only to then realize that the Doctor never carried money. On their trip to Rio and when they had to stay in Craig's flat, he just stole money from an ATM. Did Yuletide have ATM's? If they did, she hadn't seen the Doctor stop off at one. Oh God, he wasn't planning on stealing the thing and running, was he?

"Two hundred par-creds," the vendor answered, yanking Alex out of her worrying. "Conversion chart's on the wall." He nodded to a large chart taped to the back of the booth.

Alex leaned over the counter a little to study it. The conversion chart listed the booth's main prices, then showed a converted number for different currency. There were several of them, possibly hundreds. According to the chart, two hundred Yuletide par-creds converted to a hundred and ninety New Earth New U.S.A. dollars, a hundred and ninety-five pounds for the New United Kingdom, etc.

"That won't be necessary," the Doctor assured the vendor. Alex blinked in surprise. She turned just in time to see him reach into his jacket pocket and pull out a nicely sized bundle of what looked like cash. It wasn't regular Earth cash though; the bills were ice-blue and were somewhat thinner than Earth cash. Alex watched as the Doctor thumbed through the bills, finally setting a small stack on the counter. "Two hundred par-creds exactly," he declared.

The vendor, whose wide eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head, smiled brightly. Apparently, he didn't often get paid in par-credits, or in the exact amount. "Thank you, sir!" he cried joyfully. He handed the climatic-regulator off to the Doctor before swiping the par-credits into a cash register underneath the counter. "Is there anything else you and your wife need to purchase, sir?"

Both the Doctor and Alex's jaws dropped at the word 'wife'. It wasn't the first time they'd been mistaken for being a couple and, with how often it happened, they should've been used to it by now. Still, it was rather jarring when the mistake was made.

"Oh, no, no, no, we're not married," Alex hastened to correct, the Doctor nodding along in furious agreement beside her.

"Oh, sorry, miss. Boyfriend and girlfriend, then?"

Those two words were almost as jarring as the word 'wife'. "No, no, not a couple _at all_ ," the Doctor clarified with another firm shake of his head.

The vendor stared at them for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes and leaned over the counter. It made Alex nervous. She stepped back and wrapped her arm around the Doctor's. He obligingly moved in front of her a bit. They watched the vendor's eyes dart between them for almost a full minute, before he finally leaned back and blurted, "What the hell do you mean you aren't a couple at all?!"

Alex jerked slightly. _What the hell?_ She thought. Nobody ever got… _offended_ or outraged whenever she and the Doctor proclaimed their singular status. In fact, Alex distinctly remembered one guy actually started flirting with her after she corrected his assumptions on the Doctor being her boyfriend. So what the hell was up with this guy?

The vendor, still looking rather livid, turned to one of the vendor's next to his booth. It was the trinket stall that seemed to _really_ like snowglobes, since that was practically all that decorated the countertop and shelves. "Brixta!" the vendor called. "Did you hear this?! These two aren't a couple!"

The young woman inside the booth – Brixta – looked up sharply. She was a tiny thing, a few inches shorter than Alex, with long hair that went down to the small of her back. Her hair was a bright blonde, so blonde that it looked white. Like the male, her skin was a deep cerulean blue, which only seemed to emphasize the near whiteness of her hair. Her outfit, deeply contrasting the male vendor's mechanic garb, consisted of a blue and black plaid flannel dress, black leggings, and black boots with bright blue fur at the tops.

Her hair swished as she tilted her head at the vendor. "What do you mean, Mikalen?" she questioned, revealing a voice that had the same pitch as little tinkling bells.

Mikalen gestured wildly at the Doctor and Alex, who by this point had backed up almost five feet away from the booth. "They say they're not a couple! Not one at all! Look at their auras!"

The Doctor stiffened in realization. "Oh, _auras_ …" he hissed under his breath.

Alex opened her mouth to question him on what he meant by auras, but was cut off by Brixta's sharp intake of breath. "Oh my goodness," she murmured. Alex turned to see that Brixta was studying her and the Doctor very critically. Her eyes were narrowed, but that didn't keep Alex from glimpsing the shock in them. "Not a couple, you say?" she demanded suddenly.

Though she wasn't sure whether Brixta was addressing her and the Doctor or Mikalen, Alex took it upon herself to answer. "Um…no," she said quietly.

Brixta's eyes narrowed even more and her hands landed on her hips. "Why of all the infernal things!" she cried. "Why not?!"

Alex felt rather cowed again, but a flame of anger deep inside her was quick to replace that. Why did it matter that she and the Doctor weren't a couple? _Even though you'd like to be,_ her subconscious taunted. Alex quickly crushed that thought and focused on the aliens in front of her. "What the hell does it matter?" she demanded. "It's none of your business."

Mikalen gave her a glare. "It is when you read auras," he snapped.

Brixta nodded affirmatively. "And you, girlie, have got soul-mate status with _him_ ," she pointed one long white nail at the Doctor, "sprinkled all over your aura and vice-versa!"

Alex blinked incoherently. Auras? Soul-mates? Huh? "W-what?" she stuttered in confusion.

"Sorry, Ally," the Doctor spoke up. "I forgot about this aspect of the Yuletidians."

"What aspect?"

"The Yuletidians are rather notorious throughout the universe as matchmakers. It's actually one of their chief services, match-making. This is due to their ability to sense compatibility in people's auras." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course, that's just _belief_. Nothing's ever been proven. There've been many tests and experiments going into this supposed ability, but no one's found anything concrete."

If it was possible, Mikalen and Brixta's eyes narrowed even further. "It is not a _supposed_ ability!" Mikalen shouted. "It's a biological _fact_!"

"And it's not sensing compatibility in people's auras!" Brixta jumped in. "We sense whether people are _soul-mates_."

"Which you two are," Mikalen nodded, a smug grin on his face. "Incredibly so, actually."

Alex could feel her jaw dropping so low it was probably about to hit the snow-covered ground. But before she could try and pick it back up to force some words out, the Doctor grabbed her arm and started steering her away. "Right, soul-mates, got it," he chattered over his shoulder. "Thanks for clearing that up and the climatic-regulator!"

He pulled Alex along for several more minutes before he finally decided they were out of Mikalen and Brixta's sights. He released Alex's arm, only to clutch it again a split second later when she stumbled from the sudden stopping. "Sorry," he winced.

"It's fine," Alex dismissed. Then she thought of something. "Wait, for making me trip, or for the whole soul-mate, auras thing?"

"Um…both?"

Alex sighed and, after a moment, gave him a little smile. "It's fine, Doc," she assured him. She glanced down at the climatic-regulator. "But what about the rest of the parts you need?"

"I doubt Mikalen will be willing to sell more stuff to us after that whole soul-mate thing," the Doctor said as he stuffed the climatic-regulator into one of his bigger-on-the-inside jacket pockets. "But that's no bother. There's plenty of booths and vendors here. Mikalen can't be the only mechanic here."

So the duo began browsing the Frost Fair once again for mechanical-looking booths. It was a little difficult. The Frost Fair booths were mostly limited to food and drink, and Christmas and holiday-themed items. People came here to buy specially-knitted stockings, hand-blown glass ornaments, candles that smelled like apple cider, cinnamon, and/or Christmas trees…that kind of thing, not parts for a time-machine.

But the task wasn't _impossible_ either. After nearly half an hour of looking, Alex finally spotted a booth whose countertop was the refurbished bed of a truck, the kind of place where mechanical parts had to be. She listened to the Doctor haggle over the price of a Lithowanian pedal-pusher (whatever the hell that was) while she browsed a nearby accessories booth.

The accessories booth was a tidy affair that seemed to be made up entirely of red silk and velvet. A small crystal chandelier hung from the top of the booth and was even lit, giving off a small warm glow in the otherwise relentless chill. The booth's overall design screamed Vegas bordello to Alex, but it was rather nice in its unexpectedness.

Displayed all along the counter and shelves were all manner of accessories. There were necklaces with exquisite alien charms, bracelets made up of delicate glass beads, earrings separated in piles according to what species they were designed for, belts with specially-designed buckles, and more. Alex couldn't help but get more and more excited as she looked everything over. She'd always been a jewelry girl.

At the moment, she was looking over a selection of winter-wear accessories. These included scarves of all different colors and fabrics, cute little knitted hats and gloves, and earmuffs that ranged from the simple kind Alex was familiar with, to complex ones that had four muffs or more.

The proprietor of the booth, an elderly Yuletidian woman with graying black hair swept up into a blue and white polka-dotted turban, had barely glanced at Alex since she came over, pointing out the conversion chart before going back to talking loudly on her cell-phone. At least, Alex assumed it was a cell-phone. It looked like a really futuristic version of the iPhone, thinner and made of what looked like glass. The vendor was talking to someone referred to as Yolena, and their conversation seemed gossipy in tone.

"…yes, that baby's clearly Axios! It's got the purple skin! I don't care what Corina says, Josip is _not_ the father. It was that Axios man, but what's his name? I remember it was after one of the thirteen Axios Gods…"

Alex smirked to herself. Some things never changed.

She kept one ear on the vendor's conversation and the other on the Doctor's continuing negotiations with the other booth vendor (still not much luck for the Time Lord) while she perused the winter accessories. She'd started looking at them because her hands were freezing. Alex swore the tips of them were starting to turn blue.

She eyed a pair of black leather gloves. They looked very sleek and further examination revealed that the insides were lined with the hide of a Yuletidian ox. _I bet they're really warm,_ Alex mused. She sighed and shook her head. No, she couldn't have new gloves. They were here to spend money on nothing but TARDIS parts. As logical as the thought was though, the gloves refused to leave Alex's mind.

She was just about to go over and help the Doctor with his price haggling (the arguing of which seemed to have stopped), freezing hands be damned, when a hand appeared out of nowhere and slid a few Yuletidian par-creds down on the counter. "The leather gloves, please," a familiar voice spoke.

Alex's head shot up. Sure enough, standing right next to her was none other than the Doctor. And his gaze was on the same pair of gloves she'd been ogling.

The vendor nodded frantically and hastened to wrap up her phone call. "Yolena, I gotta go. There's a customer who wants to buy gloves!" There was a silence as Yolena spoke on the other end. The vendor turned and looked the Doctor up and down. "Male, not bad looking, nice eyes. Yes, yes, I'll call you back later! And think up that Axios god name for me!" The vendor pressed a button on the touch-screen and tossed the phone down onto a red velvet chair tucked into the back of the booth.

"Sorry about that, sir," she apologized as she adjusted her turban. "Yolena does like to go on. Now, what were you interested in?"

"The leather gloves for Ally here," the Doctor directed. He eyed the gloves critically. "They look like they should fit, but we'd better make sure."

"Oh, yes sir!" the vendor chirped. She snatched up the leather gloves and took a few back-and-forth glances between them and Alex's hands resting on the countertop. "I have plenty of sizes in this design."

"Oh, no, that's not necessary," Alex hastened to chime in. She quickly turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, you don't need to buy me gloves. I'm fine!"

"Nonsense, Ally," the Doctor dismissed. "Don't worry about it."

"But that money! You should save it for the parts you still need to get for the TARDIS!"

"I've got almost all of the parts, Alex. There's just one more to get and we're done! Besides, there's still a bit of money left, more than enough to get the final part and buy you some gloves."

"But I don't _need_ gloves! I'm fine!"

"No, you're not," the Doctor challenged. He grasped one of her hands and held it up. He traced one of his fingers over hers, taking in the short nails, the picked away remnants of raspberry blush nail-polish, but most importantly, the speckles of blue that were starting to appear on the skin directly above her nails. "Your fingers are turning blue."

 _I knew it,_ Alex thought. But that still wasn't enough to deter her. "They really aren't that bad…"

"First sign of frostbite," the Doctor argued when she trailed off. They both knew that her argument was weak. He wrapped his hand around her fingertips and squeezed them gently, trying to will warmth back into them. "Come on Ally, stop arguing and let me buy you the bloody gloves."

"Yes, do it!" the vendor chimed her two cents in. "Never refuse a man's offer to buy something, girlie. They don't offer to do it that much."

Alex snorted. The vendor did have a point. "Alright, alright," she sighed. "I give in."

The vendor beamed, revealing a set of teeth that looked like they needed to be cleaned ASAP. "Excellent! Now, hold up your hand, girlie, so I can see if these'll fit…"

Less than two minutes later, Alex was admiring her new gloves. The ones on the counter had fit her like, well, a glove and were incredibly warm and comfortable. Alex bounced up and down in excitement while the Doctor and the clerk continued with payment.

"One hundred and twenty-five par-creds," the vendor said. "The conversion chart's on the-,"

"Yes, yes, thank you, but we don't need it," the Doctor quickly assured her. He nodded down to the bills on the counter. "Exact amount there."

Like Mikalen, this vendor gave the Doctor a big smile. "Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. She brushed the money into a cash register beneath the counter and glanced at Alex excitedly. "Is there anything else you and your wife would be interested in, sir? I have a magnificent selection of jewelry."

The Doctor sighed while Alex rolled her eyes sky-high. "We're not married," the duo said together.

"Oh, no?" The vendor actually looked more excited at this news. Quick as a wink, she pulled a velvet-lined tray out from beneath the counter. The whole tray was covered with fancy rings of all different sizes and gems. Both the Doctor and Alex experienced a flash-back to a vendor with identical ideas that they had encountered in Rio. "How about a lovely engagement ring?" the vendor proposed. She eyed Alex's glove-covered fingers. "A size five, I believe? Maybe smaller."

"We're not a couple," Alex said gently, all the while trying not to groan. What was the matter with these people? If they could indeed read people's auras, why didn't they keep their opinions to themselves? Save it for the people who actually wanted match-making!

The vendor's jaw dropped. "What?!" she screeched. It was so loud, surrounding vendors and customers looked over in curiosity and concern.

The Doctor hastily grabbed Alex's arm. "Come on, Ally," he murmured, already backing them away from the booth. "Let's go…"

"Hold on a minute!" the vendor shrieked. She planted her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the two. "What do you mean 'we're not a couple'?"

"Just that," the Doctor said, still tugging Alex further away.

"Just that?!" The vendor shook her head so violently, her turban started to unravel. In her anger and disbelief though, she didn't notice. She glared at the two. "I can see both of your auras! The compatibility in them is off-the-charts! Look at them, everybody! Look at them and tell me they're not soul-mates!"

 _There's the s-word again,_ Alex thought. She wouldn't deny that the thought of her and the Doctor being soul-mates was quite thrilling and spine-tingling, but Alex knew that that wasn't likely the case. Even if she and the Doctor were soul-mates, the relationship would never work out. He was a centuries-old Time Lord, she was a simple human…

Alex was drawn out of her thoughts by the Doctor practically pulling her arm out of its socket as he dragged her further away from the jewelry booth. Behind her, Alex could hear the vendor still screeching away about the "in denial couple" and demanding that everyone take a good look at them to see if they could see what she could. As they hurried away, Alex spotted several Yuletidian vendors and customers taking this advice. Their eyes were focused on her and the Doctor as they passed, some narrowed, some wide in shock and glee.

They hurried along for several minutes until finally, the Doctor released her arm. He winced as Alex rubbed it. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"It's alright," Alex dismissed. She looked around. They were in a slightly less populated part of the Frost Fair. There were only about ten booths, five on each side of the makeshift path, and each one was largely spread out from the other. In between the booths were snow-covered miniature pine-trees. Each tree was decorated with Christmas lights and fragile glass ornaments that looked like they would shatter if you placed only your fingertip on it.

Alex smiled and wandered over to one, taking in the tree's popcorn and cranberry-strung garlands. To her amazement, they hadn't been nibbled at. Apparently, Yuletide birds (if there were any) didn't care for popcorn and cranberries.

The Doctor felt his own lips quirk up in a smile. Seeing Alex so excited and enamored by her surroundings made this whole trip worth it. He would've been happy – relieved even – if the citizens of Yuletide stopped getting pissy about him and Alex not being a couple, but for Alex's sake, he could tolerate it. Seeing her smile at things in wonder, watching her eyes dart around, trying to take everything in, it made him rather happy.

It also made him forget about his trouble-making Christmases. The Doctor liked the holiday, loved it really, but he hated that trouble always seemed to follow him on it. It hadn't always been like that. Before his ninth incarnation, Christmas was an easy holiday to celebrate, trouble never making an appearance. But when he regenerated, the universe must've been feeling a bit nasty, for each Christmas he encountered, he was whisked into a mass of trouble that could only be stopped permanently by him.

Looking at Alex now though, he knew he wasn't alone with his less-than-perfect Christmases. Alex hadn't said anything, but he was sure that Christmases with her grandmother were far from pleasant. _Maybe I can make it up to her,_ he thought. Perhaps when it was Christmas in her timeline, he'd bring her back here, stay for a few days, join in on all the festivities, anything to see that look of wonder and pure delight on her face…

The Doctor was abruptly pulled from his holiday-planning when Alex called out, "Doctor?"

The Doctor blinked and shook his head, struggling to focus back on her (not that that was a difficult thing to do). "Yes, Ally?"

Alex smiled at him. He must've been thinking about something pretty hard before she forcibly drew his attention. He had that look on his face like he'd been thinking something over intently, something that required all of his brainpower to focus on. _Wonder what it was?_ Knowing it was probably something she couldn't understand or something he wouldn't tell her, Alex dismissed it. Instead she asked, "You said we only need to get one more part for the TARDIS, right?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes. Yes, Ally."

"Well, come on then." Alex stepped over and linked her arm through his. "Let's go get it, find the Ponds, and head back to the TARDIS." She shivered slightly. "I could do with some hot chocolate in front of the fire."

The Doctor chuckled. "I think that can be arranged."

It took the two only ten minutes to find the booth with the final part they needed. Thankfully, this booth was not operated by a Yuletidian, but by a Killoran. Alex could barely take her eyes off the creature, seeing as it strongly resembled a cross between a wolf and an ape. The Killoran paid her and the Doctor almost no attention, simply fetching the part the Doctor asked for and giving them the price in a very bored fashion.

The part itself, according to the Doctor, helped to operate the helmic-regulator valve on the TARDIS console, and was made of some rare metal that could only be found on two planets in the galaxy Yuletide resided in. Therefore, it was extremely expensive and, despite what Alex considered to be pretty good bartering on her and the Doctor's part, they ended up using the rest of the Yuletide par-creds to purchase the item.

"Well, that's over and done with," Alex sighed as she and the Doctor headed back to the TARDIS. It was a pity. She'd hoped to spend more time on Yuletide, but with no more money, that wasn't really an option.

The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. He smirked smugly to himself when Alex nestled closer into his side. "Cheer up, Ally," he encouraged. He squeezed her shoulders, then used his thumb to tilt her chin up to look at him. "Hot chocolate in front of a fire, remember?"

Alex laughed, a grin lighting up her face. "Okay, that makes up for it. As long as it's in front of the library fire, not some campfire on a jungle planet where we can get attacked by another Borbos beast."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Stuff like that doesn't happen _twice_ ," he retorted. "Such little faith in me…"

Alex giggled impishly as they approached the TARDIS. The time-machine looked just as it had when they left it, only there was now a fine covering of snow on the roof. The Doctor sighed upon seeing this and began rummaging in his pockets for the key.

Alex, meanwhile, was looking around. There were fewer people in this part of the fair than there had been when they arrived, and none of them were Amy and Rory. "I don't see Amy and Rory," she announced.

"Oh, don't worry. We can use the TARDIS to track them down. Can't have gotten very-,"

"Sir!" a voice suddenly shouted. "Sir! Ma'am!"

Startled, the Doctor and Alex whirled around. Both were surprised and slightly anxious to see a Yuletidian policeman running towards them. His uniform was almost identical to the ones worn by English bobbies, consisting of a dark blue shirt and slacks, shiny black boots, a domed black hat with a silver badge on the front, and a tool-belt wrapped around his waist. Inside it were typical Earth-style handcuffs, but also a blaster, and a black stick with electric blue lights running down the sides. He came to a stop before them, panting raggedly.

"Thank the gods," he wheezed. He leaned forwards, planting his hands on his knees. "I've been looking all over for you two."

The Doctor and Alex exchanged an apprehensive look. They hadn't broken any laws, had they? "Is there a problem, officer?" the Doctor asked through a strained smile.

Having gained his breath back, the policeman straightened up. "I'll say, sir. Your friends have been arrested."

* * *

"Arrested for indecent exposure! _Indecent exposure_! I cannot _believe_ it!"

Alex winced slightly at the Doctor's ranting. His voice was loud and filled with anger and incredulousness. She couldn't really blame him though; those were the exact emotions she was feeling as well.

Currently, the duo was storming down a small pathway between several jail cells. Looking around, Alex saw that this jail was one of the nicer ones she'd seen since she started traveling with the Doctor and began getting arrested on a more than average basis. The jail consisted of twenty cells, ten on each side, and all a pretty decent size. Thick bars made of what looked like iron but probably wasn't made up the door to each cell. The walls were made up of gray and brown stones, while the floor was a glossy-looking concrete. Faint sunlight shined through a window on the wall at the very back of the jail.

"Indecent exposure!" the Doctor shouted again, pulling Alex out of her thoughts. They had now come upon the final cell. Inside, looking properly red-faced and ashamed, were Amy and Rory.

The Doctor shook his head at them and crossed his arms, looking very much like a parent about to scold their child for doing something completely stupid. "According to Officer Tenzile, the two of you were caught in a _very_ compromising position behind this very building – the bloody police station! I told you don't get into trouble and what do you do? GET IN TROUBLE!"

Alex also crossed her arms and gave the couple a narrow-eyed stare. "What the hell were you two thinking?!" she demanded. When Amy and Rory opened their mouths to answer, she said, "No, don't answer, _I'll_ tell you what you were thinking. You weren't thinking at all, THAT'S what you were thinking!"

"We didn't know it was a police station!" Rory cried in defense.

Both the Doctor and Alex gave him sharp _shut-up_ looks.

"This never happened with the others!" the Doctor bemoaned. "Not even Barbara and Ian, and Susan and I had bets going on when they'd get together!"

"Oh, stuff it with the lecture, raggedy-man!" Amy jumped in. She matched the Doctor's dark glare. "We're sorry, okay?"

"More like you are," Alex challenged. She was willing to bet that Amy was the mastermind behind her and Rory's little rendezvous.

Amy's cheeks turned a shade close to her hair. "Perhaps," she murmured before shaking her head and resuming her normal attitude. "Now, can you two pretty please get us out of here?"

" _Please_?" Rory begged. Though he probably didn't mean to, he made for a rather pathetic figure sitting on the floor, Amy having taken the too-small-for-two-people fold-out bed. Alex couldn't help but feel pity for him, but forced herself to retain her angry, exasperated stance.

"First, say you're sorry for getting thrown in jail," she ordered.

Amy huffed and rolled her eyes while Rory groaned, but they obliged. "We're sorry," they said together.

" _Really_ sorry," Amy added.

The Doctor dropped his arms and sighed. "Thank you. Now, getting you out of here. Did they set a bail limit for you two?"

"One thousand par-creds," Rory answered.

The Doctor and Alex's eyes widened. "One thousand par-creds?!" they cried.

"If it helps, the officer mentioned something about a conversion chart." Amy nodded to a sign posted underneath the window. Sure enough, it was the same long, detailed conversion chart the Doctor and Alex had seen numerous times at the Frost Fair.

Alex groaned. "It won't help. We don't have any money."

"What?!" Rory shouted in alarm.

"No money?" Amy said incredulously.

"The Doctor used it all on parts for the TARDIS," Alex explained. _And my new gloves,_ she thought. A wave of guilt washed over her and she hid her hands behind her back, hoping the Ponds wouldn't notice.

"It's not like I imagined by companions would get arrested for shagging behind a police station!" the Doctor exclaimed in defense.

"Great," Rory groaned, flinging his hands up in the air.

"Don't panic," Alex drilled. _Not yet at least,_ she silently added. "Doc, surely you can get more par-creds, right? You had the ones we used today and you never carry money." In the cell, Amy and Rory nodded along eagerly.

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, something the companions instantly knew meant bad news. "Um, well, no, Ally, I'm afraid I can't get more par-creds. You see, that money we used today was part of a reward settlement I received centuries back for saving Yuletide's president from assassination. It's been holed up in the TARDIS for ages, I didn't even remember I had it till the TARDIS got it out for me…"

"Oh, great!" Amy grumbled.

"We're gonna be stuck in here forever!" Rory griped, his head falling back against the bars.

"Hey, I said don't panic!" Alex lightly scolded.

Rory shot her a disbelieving look. "How can we not panic?!"

"We've been in worse spots before," the Doctor reminded him. "We'll fix this, Ponds, I promise." Rory and Amy didn't look too optimistic but they stayed silent, trying to calm themselves down. The Doctor was right. They _had_ been in a lot more difficult and straining situations before and they always managed to figure a way out of those. _This_ couldn't be that difficult.

"Okay," Alex declared once the Ponds quieted. "Let's strategize." She glanced at the conversion chart out of the corner of her eye. "Ha! I got it! We'll just use a different method of payment for the bail money!"

"I don't keep money in the TARDIS, Alex," the Doctor said gently.

 _Maybe you should start!_ Alex mentally snapped. She bit her tongue before she could say that out loud. "What about Earth dollars or pounds?" she suggested. "I brought some with me when I first started traveling with you. For emergencies."

The Doctor shook his head. "Yuletide doesn't accept Old Earth dollars or pounds. Those aren't established currencies in this time period."

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Alex demanded, her voice coming out harsh despite her intentions to the contrary.

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer (not that he had any ideas) when the door leading into the jail banged open. The group's heads turned to see a Yuletidian policeman striding down the corridor towards them. He was tall, close to the Doctor's height, with a rather large stomach, probably from eating too many doughnuts, or whatever the Yuletidian equivalent of those was. Alex also noticed his thick, bristly salt-and-pepper mustache, cut into a handlebar style. The main thing, however, was his uniform. It didn't resemble Officer Tenzile's. Instead of a dark blue shirt, this man wore a dark blue military-style jacket decorated with an assortment of medals and pins. Clearly, he was someone important.

"Police chief," the Doctor murmured in Alex's ear as the man came to a stop before them.

The TARDIS crew waited, expecting the man to speak, but to their surprise, he was silent. Instead, he was staring at the Doctor and Alex intently. Both shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. The Doctor reached behind him and wrapped his hand around Alex's wrist, tugging her behind him. The police chief's eyes narrowed in on the action and his mustache twitched.

As if things couldn't get any more bizarre, the police chief began walking around the two, eyes still tightly fixed on them, only now they were raised in surprise. Amy and Rory watched the scene with confused fascination, both of them wondering what the hell was going on, but not about to risk speaking up and asking.

After making a complete circle around the Doctor and Alex, the police chief came to a stop. He straightened to his full height, his stomach bulging out more in the process. His intense stare faded and his lips quirked up into a bright grin.

"Police Chief Gryland Rukes." He shook the flabbergasted Doctor and Alex's hands. "May I say, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you sir, ma'am. Absolute pleasure!"

"Um, thank you," the Doctor said, doing his best to keep his shock in check. This wasn't usually the response he and his companions got from the police on various planets.

"The pleasure's all ours," Alex added. In her shock, the sentence came out as more of a question than a statement.

Chief Rukes didn't seem to notice though, or just chose not to comment. "Been hearing all about you two today," he revealed. "You two have been causing quite the uproar in town. Gossip's all over the streets." He leaned back on his haunches and raised his eyebrows, appraising the two once again. "And now I see why."

"Look, we're very sorry we've been causing commotion in town," the Doctor apologized.

"But we really want to get our friends out of jail," Alex finished.

Their finishing-each-other's-sentences bit didn't go unnoticed by Chief Rukes. His eyebrows seemed to rise even higher and his lips quirked again. "But you don't have any money," he stated. Seeing the Doctor and Alex's startled expressions, he added, "I overheard you on my way in. Contrary to their looks, these walls aren't very thick."

"Is there any other option?" Alex pleaded. "Can they, I dunno, do community service?" Amy and Rory, who were now standing in front of the bars, nodded frantically.

"I'm afraid that's not an option. Bail money is our only policy."

Alex sighed and raked a hand through her hair. The Doctor groaned and rubbed his chin. Amy and Rory's shoulders drooped. All of their faces had looks of despair and hopelessness.

"But…" The TARDIS crew raised their heads and eyed Chief Rukes optimistically. "There is one alternative. It's not something we do in these circumstances but it's in the spirit of Yuletide."

"We'll do anything," Alex promised.

"Great!" the Doctor cheered. "What is it?"

Chief Rukes gave them another grin, this one more dazzling than the last one. "You two," he declared, pointing to the Doctor and Alex, "have to get married."

Amy and Rory gasped.

The Doctor and Alex stared incoherently at the chief before simultaneously screaming, "WHAT?!"

* * *

 _Now…_

At that moment, a familiar tune started up behind the doors. It was the typical wedding march Alex had heard in many movies and TV shows back home. She never thought she'd be hearing it on an alien planet though, especially not in this context.

"Ooh! This is it!" the handmaid squealed, sounding more like a fifteen-year-old at a One Direction concert than the forty-something she actually was. She stepped behind Alex and nudged her closer to the doors. "Get ready girlie, cause your life is about to change!"

Alex resisted the urge to snort. _Tell me about it._ The church doors opened, revealing the massive church hall that would put Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral to shame. Ever so carefully, she stepped into the hall, then slowly made her way down the aisle.

Her eyes were mostly concentrated on the floor, making sure she didn't trip on her floor-length dress, but as she got closer to the end of the aisle, an internal force made Alex look up. Her breath hitched upon seeing the figure waiting at the head of the church, looking oh-so-elegant and perfect.

 _I can't believe this is happening,_ she thought. _I'm marrying the Doctor._

 _I can't believe this is happening. I'm marrying Ally._

The Doctor's hearts felt like they were trying to beat straight out of his chest. Was that possible? In this moment, it certainly felt like it was.

He glanced down at his outfit. The Yuletidians had practically forced him into this tux. It was similar to the one he wore for Amy and Rory's wedding, but the jacket length was shorter, his bowtie was black, there was no scarf or top-hat, and a sprig of mistletoe had been pinned above his right lapel.

 _This is why I don't wear tuxes! Something bad always happens when I do!_ He paused, reconsidering his thoughts. Actually…was this really a bad thing? Marrying Alex? He felt his hearts pound some more, but instead of frantically, they actually sounded…eager? Was that even a thing hearts could do? It certainly seemed to be that way for him.

But back to his thoughts. Was marrying Alex really such a bad thing? The majority of the Doctor's mind was screaming hell no, but there was a small part – the reasonable part – arguing that yes, this was a horrible idea. He couldn't marry companions, especially ones that he was rather attracted to.

Of course, marrying companions wasn't a new thing for him. It had actually happened quite a few times before, but always by accident, never on purpose. During his fourth incarnation, he and Sarah-Jane accidentally became married after eating what was considered sacred marriage fruit on a tribal planet. In his fifth incarnation, he and Tegan (much to the consternation of them both) were declared married after a misunderstanding between them and the inhabitants of the planet Yangzi. There, only married women were allowed to wear the color purple, which Tegan's flight attendant uniform was. Nyssa and Adric had never let them forget that incident.

He and Rose had actually been accidentally married on several planets, not that Rose ever found out. The Doctor had never told her for two reasons: one, because he loved being secretly married to her, and two, he feared she would tell her mother and he would get slapped into a new regeneration the next time they visited her. Jackie Tyler was not a woman to be crossed when it came to her daughter.

 _We're definitely not telling Marigold about this,_ the Doctor decided. That woman considered Alex to be her daughter and the Doctor was not about to risk becoming a practice target for the woman's gun collection should she learn they'd gotten married on another planet.

Shaking the image of a trigger-happy Marigold Abernathy out of his mind, the Doctor tried to distract himself by studying his surroundings.

The Yuletidians had gone all out for what was supposed to be a simple marriage to get two people out of jail. They'd given the Doctor and Alex use of Yuletide's largest and most famous church, St. Grenada Abbey. The church itself was enormous with the walls and ceiling so high up, they couldn't be seen from the ground. The walls were made up of a material that resembled limestone, but in dim light twinkled and shined like there were diamonds in it. Numerous candles hung from them, emitting a cheerful glow while also spreading the smell of pine trees throughout the hall. The floor was a glossy black and white tile that was currently strewn with poinsettia flowers and mistletoe leaves. On either side of the aisle were massive mahogany pews that could seat up to twenty people comfortably. Amy and Rory were in the first pew on the Doctor's left, both of them handcuffed and guarded by a beaming Chief Rukes. The Ponds, being prisoners, hadn't been whisked away and dressed up like the Doctor and Alex, but someone had tried to make them feel like a part of the event. A sprig of mistletoe was pinned to the lapel of Rory's jacket and Amy was wearing a crown made up of dark red roses, bushels of holly, and poinsettias.

At the head of the church, where the Doctor was currently standing, were several statues that had been sculpted into the wall. The Doctor knew they were the figures of Yuletide myth, different gods and goddesses and other key players in their religion.

Above the statues was a massive stained glass window, the size of two small houses. It detailed an enormous snowflake that was actually made up of various scenes showing different moments in Yuletide's religious mythology. The stained glass window was actually one of several throughout the church, but the rest had been blocked off by thick red curtains that stretched down from the practically nonexistent ceiling. The room had been rendered dim as a result, with the candles and the main stained glass window providing the only light.

Overall, it was a very eerie but romantic atmosphere, likely what the Yuletidians had been aiming for when they orchestrated this whole thing. But the Doctor wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not.

The idea of marrying Alex, even if it was solely for the purpose of getting Amy and Rory out of jail, secretly thrilled him even though he knew it shouldn't. He'd been telling himself for ages now that he couldn't fall in love with Alex. Attracted to her? Maybe. But that was it. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Doctor was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of the pipe organ far above him in one of the church balconies beginning to play the wedding march. It sounded exactly the same as the version on Earth. Even far in the future, some things never changed.

His eyes were quickly drawn to the opening church doors. For a moment, he didn't see anything but then a figure stepped forward and the Doctor couldn't help but let out a gasp.

It was Alex. Of course he knew she would be coming in that way, but he hadn't expected her to look so…magnificent, stunning, _beautiful_.

He watched, gaze completely fixed on her, as Alex slowly walked down the aisle. The Yuletidians had outdone themselves with her. She was wearing a long sleeved, floor-length white dress with a white lace overlay. She had to walk rather slowly in over not to trip over it. As she walked, the Doctor caught the glimpse of a pair of strappy white stiletto heels, another reason for her cautious steps. In her hands was an elaborate bouquet made up of poinsettias, dark red roses, little bundles of holly, and pinecones, all of which was tied together by a thick red ribbon Alex's newly snow white nails were currently digging in.

Alex's hair had been pulled out of her half-ponytail and was now curled. Someone had also placed a few poinsettias and dark red roses along the right side of her hair. Her makeup hadn't been tampered with except for the addition of a pale red blush and deep red lip gloss. It looked like Alex's lips had been dipped into berry juice, a thought the Doctor couldn't help but picture. A pair of dangly snowflake earrings hung from her ears, shimmering in the dim light. The Doctor also caught sight of Alex's parents' wedding bands on her right hand. Since the rest of her jewelry had been removed, Alex must've fought hard to keep the Yuletidians from taking it. The Doctor smirked a little at the thought. Then he noticed that the ring had actually moved from Alex's third index finger to her second. Now why was that?

 _A wedding band, you idiot!_ A voice that sounded a lot like his first incarnation's snapped in his head. The Doctor's eyes grew wide. He had to put a ring on Alex's finger. His hearts started pounding furiously again, though he still detected an excited rhythm beneath the panicking.

All too soon, Alex was at the end of the aisle. She handed her bouquet off to Chief Rukes. As the music died down, she carefully approached the Doctor. He seemed pretty calm at the moment but then again, with the Doctor, you never quite knew what was going on underneath the surface.

Alex's gaze raked over him. _God, he looks handsome,_ she thought. _He should wear tuxes more often._

For a long moment the two just stared at each-other, taking the other in. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. He felt like he should say something, tell Alex she looked lovely. _No, beautiful!_ His subconscious corrected. But should he say something? This wasn't a real wedding, not by his or Alex's standards. But wouldn't it be rude to say something? Alex did look stunning, after all.

He opened his mouth to say something and saw Alex straighten to attention, eyeing him intently. But before he could get any words out, someone stepped forward and a voice rang out, "Let us begin."

The Doctor's mouth snapped shut and he and Alex turned to look at the new arrival. It was the priest. The priest that would marry them… The Doctor felt his mouth go dry. Alex felt her stomach tighten in knots while her heart fluttered excitedly.

The priest was another Yuletidian with thin gray hair and a thick pair of spectacles that rested on the bridge of his nose. He wore a long deep red robe, a green collared shirt, black pants, and the traditional white cloth on his collar. In his hands was what looked like the typical Earth Bible, though Alex had a feeling it wasn't.

"We are gathered here today," the priest began, "to witness the joining of this man and this woman in marriage; which is an honorable estate, instituted in the necessities of our being, and dedicated to the happiness of mankind; an estate not by any to be endured into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, soberly, and in all sincerity…"

The Doctor and Alex quickly began to tune the priest out. The man seemed rather fond of his own voice and was currently droning on and on about how love and marriage was not something to go into on a whim, or something like that. Glancing over at Amy and Rory, Alex saw that they too looked pretty bored by the priest's ranting. Even Chief Rukes was starting to look a little drained. Finally, after almost two minutes of the priest's chattering, the chief cleared his throat and made a hurry-it-up gesture.

The priest looked annoyed at being rushed, but obliged. "Doctor," he said, turning to the Time Lord. "Will you have this woman to be your wife, to live together in the sacred estate of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and be faithful to her, as long as you both shall live?"

The Doctor swallowed thickly. If this were a real wedding, which it wasn't, he'd have had no trouble following those vows, but the last bit reminded him that Alex would be gone all too soon. Her lifespan was incredibly miniscule compared to his. It was the reason he couldn't allow himself to fall in love with her, a task that proved to be incredibly difficult, if not impossible to do every single day.

But now wasn't the time to be thinking that. He had to say the words, move this thing along, get the Ponds released. With another swallow, he stared directly into Alex's topaz-colored eyes and said, "I do."

Alex's breath hitched. Even though this wasn't real, she couldn't help but feel touched and honored that the Doctor was agreeing to those vows. She flicked her eyes down so no one would see how watery they were.

"Alexandria," the priest spoke, making Alex's eyes snap up. "Will you have this man to be your husband, to live together in the sacred estate of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and be faithful to him, as long as you both shall live?"

Alex felt her mouth go dry. Oh God, she was actually going to say those words, words that she'd only ever spoken while marrying her Barbie and Ken dolls when she was six. And she was saying them to _the Doctor_ …

Knowing that everyone was waiting, she swallowed and took a deep breath. "I…" she managed to choke out before her voice abruptly faltered. Alex closed her eyes. She couldn't let anyone see how affected she was by this, how terrified, nervous, and somewhat ecstatic she was about this whole thing.

Suddenly, she felt someone grasp her right hand. Alex felt a jolt of some mysterious energy run through her fingertips and palm all the way up her arm. Only one person could cause that kind of physical reaction.

She opened her no longer watery eyes. She felt her heartbeat calm down into a soothing rhythm. The rest of her body relaxed, no longer at DEFCON levels. Automatically, her gaze met the Doctor's. His alluring emerald depths were dark in the dim light of the room, but Alex could easily make out the twinkles in them meant solely for her.

A small smile crossed his lips. Alex knew it was meant to reassure her, calm her down so that they could continue with this whole thing. Still, she couldn't help but think that the smile also meant that he was happy he was up here with her.

She felt the Doctor's hand squeeze her own before starting to pull back, but Alex clenched her fingers tighter around his. His hand stopped. Alex gently squeezed it in gratefulness. She took a deep breath and, keeping her gaze locked on his, declared, "I do."

There were audible sighs from Chief Rukes and the Ponds, though the Doctor and Alex figured it was more out of relief than any infatuated romantic ones. The priest, for his part, looked pleased, probably happy that Alex had finally managed to spit those two important words out.

He turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, repeat after me. I, Doctor."

"I, Doctor."

"Take you, Alexandria."

"Take you, Alexandria."

"To be my wedded wife."

The Doctor took a deep breath, his hearts thundering in keenness. "To be my wedded wife."

"To have and to hold."

"To have and to hold."

"From this day forward."

"From this day forward."

"For better or worse."

"For better or worse."

"For richer or poorer."

The Doctor smirked at this, knowing just how poor he was and how rich Alex technically was. "For richer or poorer."

"In sickness and in health."

"In sickness and in health."

"To love and to cherish."

Involuntarily, his hand squeezed Alex's. "To love and to cherish."

"Till death do us part."

Once again, the Doctor squeezed Alex's hand, but this was in desperation, pitiful hope that she wouldn't die, not yet and hopefully not ever. It wasn't possible, but at the moment the Doctor refused to think about it. "Till death do us part," he echoed, hoping his voice wouldn't crack like he was sure it was going to do.

His part done, the priest turned to the bride. "Alexandria, repeat after me. I, Alexandria."

"I, Alexandria," Alex echoed, wincing at the sound of her long first name.

"Take you, Doctor."

"Take you, Doctor."

"To be my wedded husband."

Alex had to take another deep breath before she recited. "To be my wedded husband," she said, her voice practically a whisper.

"To have and to hold."

"To have and to hold."

"From this day forward."

"From this day forward."

"For better or worse."

Alex smirked a little. "For better or worse."

"For richer or poorer."

Her smirk grew wider. "For richer or poorer."

"In sickness and in health."

"In sickness and in health."

"To love and to cherish."

Her heart fluttered. "To love and to cherish."

"Till death do us part."

 _Which will happen pretty quickly with me,_ Alex thought, but she forced herself to echo anyway. "Till death do us part."

The priest beamed, looking ever so pleased with himself, before focusing his attention on Chief Rukes. "If you would be so kind, Chief Rukes, as to present the rings?"

"Oh, yes." The Chief patted down his pants pockets for a moment before reaching into one and pulling out a small black ring box. He stepped up to the alter and handed it to the priest. "A gift from a very persistent accessories vendor," the Chief told them.

The Doctor and Alex immediately knew who he was talking about. The accessories vendor had gotten her wish of selling them rings after all.

Once Chief Rukes was back standing guard over the Ponds, the priest whisked the box open with a dramatic flourish. Inside were two silver wedding rings, though the decorations on them caught the Doctor and Alex by surprise. On each ring was a Christmas tree charm. The charm was silver with little red, green, and white gemstones representing ornaments while there was a single yellowish one at the top, symbolizing a star.

Alex almost burst out laughing. Of course their rings, just like the rest of their wedding, would be Christmas themed. She had to admit, the rings were rather cute. She could see herself wearing that, but the image of _the Doctor_ wearing a ring that looked like it would be more at home on a thirteen-year-old girl… Alex bit her lip, trying to keep her laughter in.

The Doctor noticed Alex's barely-restrained snickering and shot her a warning look. Fortunately, the priest was oblivious. He held the box out towards the Doctor. The Time Lord carefully reached in and pulled out one of the rings. Up close, he could see that the gemstones were actually real jewels, tiny emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and a single yellow garnet.

He reluctantly released Alex's right hand to grasp her left. He held it up and carefully slid the ring onto her ring finger, placing it directly over the white circular space left by Alex's parents rings.

"Say after me, with this ring, I thee wed," the priest prompted.

"With this ring," the Doctor said, his finger running over the band, "I thee wed."

The priest motioned for Alex to do the same. Alex obediently pulled out the remaining ring, grasped the Doctor's left hand, and slid it onto his ring finger. To her surprise, the ring fit perfectly, despite its rather dainty appearance. "With this ring," she declared, looking up into the Doctor's eyes, "I thee wed."

"In as much as the Doctor and Alexandria have consented together in marriage," the priest proclaimed, "and have witnessed the same before you, and thereto have pledged their faith to each other, and have declared the same by joining hands and giving and receiving rings, I pronounce they are husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

KISSING! They'd forgotten about that! _It'll be fine, Alexandria,_ Alex drilled to herself. _You two have kissed plenty of times before…_ She mentally groaned. _**Not**_ _the thing to think about!_

Little did she know that similar thoughts were racing through the Doctor's brain. _Alright, you can do this. You've kissed plenty of women before…oh, not a good thought. Okay, you've kissed Ally plenty of times before…_ An image of the time they'd kissed on the _Byzantium_ popped into his head. The Doctor resisted the urge to smack himself on the forehead. _Bad brain! Not a good image! Bad mental image!_

Somewhat automatically, the Doctor and Alex leaned forward. The Doctor found himself bending down to accommodate Alex's height. Even in five-inch heels, she was shorter than him. Alex raised up on tiptoe. When she began teetering on her heels, she placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Slowly their eyes closed, their lips drifted towards each-other's, and then they touched.

It was a chaste kiss, no tongues to be seen, but at the same time intense and passionate. It wasn't a very long kiss either, not even reaching five seconds, but to the Doctor and Alex, it felt like an eternity. Alex's lips tasted warm and slick and vaguely like berries, thanks to her lip gloss. Her natural sweet-and-sour flavor was just traceable underneath that. The Doctor's lips were soft and firm with a warm flavor Alex could just barely detect. It was like the warmth of an early-summer sun, shining down on you and warming you up with just the faintest touch.

And so very quickly, it was over. The Doctor and Alex pulled back and stared at the floor, neither quite willing to look at the other. Their hearts had started hammering again and the adrenaline in their bodies was at an all-time high. They felt like they could run a marathon, compete in the Ancient Greek Olympics…and all because of a single, chaste kiss that hadn't lasted five seconds.

A burst of clapping and cheers pulled them out of their thoughts. The two turned to see Amy and Rory clapping as best as they could with handcuffs on while Chief Rukes' claps sounded almost like thunder. All three were grinning, though Amy and Rory's smiles looked more amused than anything.

Chief Rukes pulled out a small key from the nether regions of his pocket. "Well, a deal's a deal," he said as he placed the key into Rory's handcuffs. With a little twist, the cuffs unlocked and Rory was freed. The Chief did the same thing to Amy, who gave him a dazzling grin and chirped, "Cheers, mate!"

"Excellent, you're both free now," the Doctor said, focusing on the whole reason this wedding had happened. He strode quickly back up the aisle, itching to get back to the TARDIS and as far away from Yuletide as possible. Alex hastened to catch up with him but it was slow going with her dress and heels. Amy rushed to help her while Rory sped after the Doctor.

"Come on!" the Doctor called as he reached the main church doors. "Let's head back to the TARDIS."

"Wait!" Chief Rukes cried out. The man ran up to them as fast as he could which, with his weight, wasn't very speedy. "You can't leave yet! There's still the reception!"

Alex's brow furrowed. "The what-," she started to ask, but was cut off by the Doctor opening the church doors and the loud, roaring cheers that followed it.

Alex jumped, staggering on her heels, and would've fallen down had Amy not gripped her upper arms and pushed her upright. Alex gave the redhead a grateful look and turned back to the entrance. Her now dark-green eyes widened to an enormous size.

"Holy crap," Rory breathed, staring ahead in disbelief. Beside him, the Doctor had gone slack-jawed.

Congregated on the church lawn was what appeared to be half the population of Yuletide, or a sizeable percentage at least. All of them were cheering, screaming, and generally behaving like it was midnight on New Year's Eve.

Chief Rukes looked outside. Unlike the TARDIS crew, he didn't look at all surprised or dumbfounded. "The Yuletidians have thrown you a reception," he explained to the bewildered Doctor and Alex. "In honor of this special, joyous occasion."

"What, because we got married to get our friends out of jail?" Alex questioned.

Chief Rukes seemed about to reply but one of Alex's handmaids appeared out of nowhere and pushed her and the Doctor forwards. "Go out!" she urged. "Everyone wants to meet you!"

Before they knew it, the Doctor and Alex were swept up into the roaring, jubilant crowd. The Yuletidians, as the handmaid had said, were eager to meet the newlyweds. Both bride and groom found themselves being pulled into hugs, shaking hands, and even getting kissed on the cheek by total strangers as they enthralled the two with their happiness over the wedding. Those who were farther back in the crowd, unable to reach the couple, settled for tossing rice, rose petals, poinsettia leaves, and other paraphernalia into the air, trying to bring about whatever luck those items represented.

After almost fifteen minutes of this, Chief Rukes and several of his constables were able to get the crowd to back off and head towards the reception. Exchanging a look, the Doctor and Alex clasped hands and reluctantly set off after them.

The reception was an outdoor one, held in the middle of the Frost Festival. Several booths had doors shut over them with signs pinned up that said CLOSED FOR WEDDING and other similar sayings. More Christmas lights had been strung along the tops of the booths, making the whole section of the Frost Fair shine as bright as day, even though the sky overhead had darkened into an inky purple-black color. The entertainers Alex had seen earlier were interspersed throughout the crowd. The clowns dressed like elves were juggling Santa Claus figurines, a fire-eater was blowing out different Christmas and wedding-themed designs from his mouth, and the elephant offering rides was hovering at the very back, eating peanuts from a barrel that had HAPPY WEDDING! imprinted on it.

Many food stands have been rounded up for the reception. There were chestnuts, hot chocolate, candy, popcorn, hot dogs, and quite a few bizarre looking foods that Alex quickly deduced were not of Earth origin. Whoever had organized this whole thing had also brought out several tables. They were on the edge of the large square made for dancing and were layered with more food and drink, cutlery, and several elaborate flower arrangements and ice sculptures.

"This is incredible," Rory marveled. "And of all this for you two?"

The Doctor and Alex's faces reddened.

Amy cocked her head in confusion. "Why would they all care so much about you two getting hitched?"

"Because the Yuletidians are notorious matchmakers," Alex explained.

The Doctor nodded in confirmation. "They supposedly read compatibility in people's auras. They've been saying Alex and I are a perfect match all day. Soul-mates, according to two of them."

Amy and Rory grinned at each-other. They had been trying to get the Doctor and Alex together for ages now, though not to any avail. Maybe these Yuletidians were just the kick in the pants the Doctor and Alex so desperately needed.

"You never know," Amy shrugged, trying to plant a seed in their minds. "You could be soul-mates."

"You do get along and work together really well," Rory pointed out.

The Doctor and Alex didn't respond, though the Ponds noticed that neither one of the duo would look at the other.

 _Guess we should change the subject,_ Amy thought. "So are we staying then?" she asked. She looked around at the festivities. "Be a shame to skip out of this big party."

"We should probably stay for a little while," Alex reasoned.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed. He glanced around at all the Yuletidians and other species who were watching him and Alex like hawks. "Everybody's expecting us to be here. When things get a little rowdier, we can bunk off."

It took only an hour for things to get rowdier. A vendor had brought out a several cases full of hyper-vodka and before you knew it, over half of the attending crowd was drunk. They stumbled over each-other, laughing both at themselves and at nothing. Couples made out frantically and sloppily against booths or grinded against each-other provocatively on the dance floor. A fight almost broke out between a vendor and a guest after the guest threw up over the vendor's collection of commemorative sweaters.

To escape the inevitable madness, the Doctor, Alex, and Rory had sequestered themselves to a table on the fringes of the reception, absently eating all of the recognizable food on it. It was as Alex was on her third hot chocolate that Amy came bounding up, startling Alex to the point that she almost dropped the hot drink on her dress.

"Sorry!" Amy smiled apologetically when Alex shot her a look. "But look what I found!" She held up a black duffel bag and partially unzipped it, revealing a fractional look of a tweed jacket and one of Alex's new gloves. "Your clothes! I doubled back to the church and one of the handmaids gave it to me."

"Amelia Pond, you're a star," the Doctor enthused. He'd been worrying about where the Yuletidians had stored his clothes, especially his jacket with all the necessary TARDIS parts. He chugged down the rest of his hot chocolate and bounced off the bench-seat. "Come on, gang! Let's head back to the TARDIS." He glanced over at a group of people mixing some of the hyper-vodka with some newly acquired eggnog. "Quickly too, before things get crazy."

No one noticed the TARDIS crew slinking through the crowd of peoples and stalls, heading away from the reception. By now, almost everyone was drunk on hyper-vodka, eggnog (or both), and happiness, and were simply focused on partying the night away and into the rapidly approaching Christmas Day.

There were still quite a few people in the area the TARDIS was parked at, but no one noticed or commented on the four people rushing inside. Rory headed in first, followed by Amy, who was helping Alex walk at the same time she was trying to keep from hitting anyone with the duffel bag, and then the Doctor. He was just about to head inside and up to the console when he heard a bunch of high-pitched squealing.

He turned around curiously. Standing a few meters away from the TARDIS were two young Yuletidian women, probably around the same age as Amy and Alex.

"Ooh, I just can't believe it!" one of them squealed. Along with her blue skin, she had long white hair streaked with purple highlights and was wearing a skimpy silver dress that was the same shade as her lipstick.

"I know, right?" her friend cried. This one was more subdued-looking, with her white hair pulled back into a braid, wiry silver glasses perched on her nose, and bundled into a mint-green snowsuit and matching scarf. Her lips were also painted silver, as if to try and improve her plain-Jane appearance. "It finally happened!"

"I know! I remember my mum telling me about the legends when I was a kid, but I never thought they could actually happen!"

"Exactly!" The plain-Jane sighed dreamily. "But it did happen. The joining of the Universal Soul-Mates!"

The Doctor froze. The joining of the Universal what?! What was all that about? And what were these legends about them?

 _Is that why they were so thrilled about me and Alex marrying? Why they kept saying we were soul-mates?_ For once, the Doctor's mind felt blank. The whole idea of him and Alex being soul-mates (universal ones at that) was hard to wrap his head around. Sure, they were very comfortable with each-other and sure, some of their interactions seemed a bit too much like fate, but soul-mates?

He looked back into the TARDIS. He could see Alex sitting on the staircase, in the process of removing her five-inch ankle-breakers. Her head was bent as she concentrated on her task, her hair falling over her shoulder like a brown-blonde waterfall. She was quite stunning, the Doctor could easily admit that, but soul-mates?

The Doctor turned back to the Yuletidian girls, only to see that they were walking away, now talking and laughing about what someone named Langston had done at a party last week. Once again, the phrase 'Universal Soul-Mates' rang in his ear.

But a moment later, the Doctor shook his head. No, there was no such thing as Universal Soul-Mates. Lots of planets had different prophecies and legends they believed would come true someday. But more often than not, they weren't true and were simply stories created by their elders or, in some cases, part of elaborate plots by maniacs out to rule the planet and enslave the people. The Doctor had dealt with several of those.

 _No Universal Soul-Mates here,_ he thought with a small smile. As nice as the prophecy sounded, it was simply more Yuletidian mumbo-jumbo, like reading compatibility in people's auras.

With that thought in mind, the Doctor strode determinedly into the TARDIS, shutting the door behind him. A few moments later, a wheezing, groaning noise filled the air and the TARDIS dematerialized into the time vortex.

* * *

"And what have we learned today?"

Amy and Rory sat glumly on one of the control room jump-seats, looking very much like two children who'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar before dinner. "Don't fool around behind a police station," they recited.

The Doctor arched an eyebrow at them. Alex crossed her arms and stared them down.

"Okay, don't fool around behind public buildings," Amy amended.

" _Any_ building," Rory said when the Doctor and Alex gave them identical frowns.

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. "Good Ponds," she muttered.

"Can we go now?" Amy pleaded. She and Rory had been getting lectured for twenty minutes and she was more than ready for it to end.

"Say you're sorry one more time," the Doctor requested.

"We're very sorry," Amy and Rory said together, sounding very much like they meant it.

"Good. _Don't_ let that happen again."

"We've learnt our lesson!" Rory insisted. Amy nodded madly in agreement.

"I'm sure you have," Alex said. She smiled at them. "Okay, go off. Do…whatever it is you two do when we're not around."

Amy and Rory quickly bounced up and ran up the staircase to the main TARDIS corridor. As they disappeared, Alex heard the sound of Amy's giggling, then a flurry of footsteps as the Ponds ran off, presumably to their bedroom.

Alex shook her head. "At the rate they're going, Amy'll be popping out a kid soon."

"Amelia Pond having a child…" The Doctor shuddered. "I'm not sure the universe is ready for that."

"If we're lucky, the kid will get Rory's patience," Alex said with a smirk. She knew already that any child of Amy and Rory's would be quite the handful. Didn't mean she wasn't looking forward to being an aunt someday though.

The Doctor chuckled and leaned back against the console. For a moment there was silence. Alex rocked back and forth on her heelless feet, waiting for him to say something. Her fingers absently trailed over her wedding band, feeling the delicate cuts of the jewels.

Unable to stand the silence anymore, she joked, "So that was an interesting day."

The Doctor gave her a small smile. "I think interesting is putting it mildly."

"You're probably right," Alex giggled. "To be safe, let's not tell Marigold about this the next time we visit her. She might shoot your head clean off if she learns we got married and she wasn't invited."

"Technically, that wedding didn't count," the Doctor argued.

Alex felt a faint pain pierce her heart, but she ignored it. He was right of course. "Right. I mean…on Earth we always sign a marriage license…and don't get married to get friends out of jail."

"Certainly not legal by your standards." The Doctor's fingers suddenly clenched the console. His eyes clouded over with some unidentifiable array of emotions. "Not by mine either."

Alex's ears pricked up. Time Lords married? _Well of course they did,_ she reasoned. Every society had some version of marriage. But what was the Time Lords' version? Alex was willing to bet that marriages had mostly been arranged, since based on the Doctor's vague mentions of them, the Time Lords weren't a very loving people. She was also willing to bet the wedding ceremonies had been full of pomp and circumstance, just like their Yuletidian wedding, but on a grander scale.

Even though she knew it probably wasn't a good idea, Alex found herself asking, "What do you mean? Time Lords married?"

The Doctor shot her a look that made her feel like she'd just dribbled on her shirt. "Of course Time Lords married, Ally. Every society and culture in the universe has their own version and concept of marriage." He pushed off the console and wandered around to the other side. Alex knew then that he wasn't going to elaborate. The subject was off-limits.

 _Of course you can't know_ _ **everything**_ _about his life,_ she told herself. _The man's allowed to have secrets._ But Alex wanted to know everything about the Doctor's life. She saw that parts of it were extremely painful for him, like the Time War, and she simply wanted to help him heal from it. She wanted to shine a light on that darkness he kept deep inside him, show him that he wasn't a bad man despite what he sometimes thought.

But that wasn't going to happen today. Sighing internally, Alex went over to the other jumpseat and rifled through the duffel bag sitting atop it. "I'm gonna go get changed," she said over her shoulder as she grabbed all of her clothes and accessories. "Sooner or later, I'm gonna trip over this dress."

She turned to see the Doctor grinning at her, his previous mood forgotten. "If it helps, it's a beautiful dress," he complimented. "You look lovely in it."

A thrum of adrenaline ran through her veins, making Alex feel somewhat giddy. "Thanks Doc!" she chirped. "And for the record, you look pretty dashing yourself. You should wear tuxes more often."

"Oh, no," the Doctor argued, shaking his head. "Every time I wear a tux, something bad happens."

"Hate to break it to you," Alex said as she climbed up the stairs to the corridor, "but it's not the tux. It's just you."

"That's exactly what Martha said," the Doctor recalled.

Alex laughed and moved to go down the hall. "Fine then. Take off the tux and get to work fixing the TARDIS. We didn't go to Yuletide _just_ to get hitched, you know."

She heard the Doctor laugh heartily. "Yes, ma'am!"

Smiling to herself, Alex headed down the hall towards the wardrobe room. The TARDIS opened the doors for her and Alex murmured her gratitude, making the ship hum delightfully. Setting her things on a nearby chair, Alex wandered over to a vanity mirror to study her reflection.

She looked very much like a Christmas bride. Alex was a little reluctant to remove the ensemble. She settled for taking a quick selfie with her phone before tackling the flowers entwined in her hair.

Seeing as it was taking a while, the TARDIS switched on some music so Alex wouldn't get bored. Alex's fingers abruptly dropped upon hearing the time-machine's selection.

"You _would_ choose this after all that's happened today," she muttered, hearing the sound of Mariah Carey's _All I Want for Christmas Is You_ echoing around her. The TARDIS gave her a noncommittal hum. To Alex, it sounded like the time-machine was shrugging.

She rolled her eyes and returned to untangling the flowers. Once the final poinsettia flower was resting on the vanity, Alex moved her hands to the back of the dress. As she tugged down the zipper, she started humming along with the song. It was one of her favorite Christmas songs. She and Lacey always sang along to it whenever they heard it, no matter where they were. At home listening to the radio, at a school dance, browsing the cosmetics aisle at the local Rite-Aid while the muzak played overhead…no surrounding could dampen their holiday spirit.

Just as Alex got the zipper halfway down her back, she started humming a different song. Mariah Carey was still blasting away, now onto the final chorus, but Alex was caught up in her new song. She was both surprised and not surprised to find herself humming the wedding march, the same wedding march she'd heard as she walked down the aisle towards the Doctor today.

Alex blushed and looked down at her wedding band, the jewels shining brightly from the overhead lights. She knew she had feelings for the Doctor and that nothing would come of it no matter how much she might want it, but for now, there was nothing wrong with a little daydreaming. And a little humming of a very specific tune.


End file.
